“You’re right.” He stepped forward, sat beside Jiang Suizhou naturally, and raised his arms to embrace him. “Since Huo Yuyan started it, he should have a chance of winning. In this case, we must not let him succeed.”
Jiang Suizhou was stunned.
“I just said it was guesswork. How could you believe it?” he asked in a whisper.
Huo Wujiu replied with a series of chuckles.
“What about it?” he retorted. “There’s no harm in preparing beforehand. I can’t put it aside just for you to guess blindly and then toss and turn all night long, can I?”
Jiang Suizhou retorted, “I wouldn’t do that.”
Huo Wujiu responded: “Yeah, yeah, you won’t. Anyway, since I already know about it, you don’t have to worry. There are many people under my command who can be used. They can keep an eye on him just so you’ll be at ease.”
Jiang Suizhou nodded.
Huo Wujiu continued, “Today at the table, he also tested me a bit. After a bit of thinking, I went along with what he said.”
Jiang Suizhou asked, “What did he say?”
Huo Wujiu said, “It’s nothing. He said that I had worked hard in the past days and could take a good rest this time. He said he could help me with the subsequent arrangements for those ministers.”
“It’s true that he’s testing you.” Jiang Suizhou frowned. “If you disagreed, it was tantamount to rebelling. If you agreed, then you are allowing him to divert your power.”
Huo Wujiu laughed: “That’s why I agreed.”
Jiang Suizhou lifted his head from his arms and looked at him.
Huo Wujiu also sat down at him and said in a low voice, “But just because I agree, doesn’t mean you do, right? I’ll be busy with the army tomorrow, so just go to the imperial study to disturb him. My subordinates are scattered all over the palace, so he can’t stir any trouble. Don’t hesitate to take action and leave him no chance to meddle.”
He had a smile on his brows and looked rather smug.
Jiang Suizhou couldn’t help laughing at his suggestion.
“So you were thinking of dealing with him there, huh?” he asked. “However, he already knows I’m just a boredom reliever. Does talking really work?”
There were the old officials in Yangguan, as well as guards of regions and counties he conquered when he went south. In addition, there were some little-known officials, whom even Huo Yuyan couldn’t name.
He could say these people were easy to deal with. After all, they didn’t have close ties with Huo Wujiu. As long as he treated them favorably according to their status, he didn’t have to be worried about them defecting. However, it was precisely because of the complex composition of these people that there was no room for an oversight. He must be cautious in dealing with them.
Fortunately, Huo Wujiu didn’t notice anything at present and directly handed over the power of appointing officials to him.
Huo Yuyan knew that a long delay might give rise to many a hitch, so even when he had a raging hangover and was still acclimatizing, even when he couldn’t get up, he forced himself to rise. He got up early and arrived at the imperial study.
To his surprise, he wasn’t the first one there.
Someone else had gotten there first.
As soon as he got to the door of the imperial study, he heard a voice inside, which sounded quite lively. He frowned imperceptibly. Although there was no expression on his face, his pace accelerated.
Huo Wu Jiu left the palace early this morning, he knew it. So who would be sitting in the imperial study now?
When he reached the door, a young eunuch was rushing outside and bumped into him head-on.
“Your Highness!” The young eunuch was stunned and hurriedly greeted. “Don’t worry, Your Highness. I’ll go and deliver your summons!”
Summon?
Except when entering his father’s imperial study, Huo Yuyan hadn’t been ‘summoned’ in years.
The young eunuch ran back all the way and raised his voice: “Prince, the Crown Prince is here!”
Prince?
This time, even Huo Yuyan’s bland expression couldn’t help but tauten.
The young eunuch next to him stepped forward and sharply said, “What Prince? Is this imperial study for anyone to enter?”
The ones he questioned were the eunuchs and soldiers guarding the entrance of the imperial study. Hearing his rebuke, the several people looked at each other, and only after a moment did they hear the one in the lead say, “Your Highness, don’t be angry. Before you came, the General had always allowed the Prince to enter and leave the imperial study...”
Huo Yuyan took a deep breath, gently smiled, and said, “It’s okay. It’s Wujiu’s family matter. I shouldn’t poke my nose into it.”
After saying that, he nodded at the soldier in charge with a faint smile and walked towards the imperial study.